Watch NASA’s Footage of the Birth of Hurricane Sandy

Before it was slowly pummeling the entire Eastern Seaboard as one of the largest hurricanes ever to strike the US, Hurricane Sandy was just a tiny wisp of clouds floating over Central America — or at least that’s the way it appears in this fascinating animation from NASA’s GOES-EAST satellite, which we spotted over on The Atlantic. Watch the first 10 days of this storm’s life — as seen from space and condensed into just 20 seconds — after the jump, and if you’ve got an interesting Sandy-related photo to share, email us here!